Los Angeles, California
Ok, enough is enough. I've written about loneliness and heartache, separation and rough reentry. We've come home to a continuing bad economy, a leak in our roof, and don't get me started on what our heinous health insurance company has recently done with our rates. Enough with the chicken and the lamb, and even the namby-pamby cake. It's time to go to the mattresses. It's time for chocolate.
Now, I'm probably the last person who needs to tell you about the chemical properties of chocolate. In other words, what chocolate does for you, which is a lot. There is a reason why desperate people in desperate times turn to chocolate. And most likely you don't need me to explain this because YOU ARE ONE OF THEM. And if you're not -- well, I don't want to play in your yard.
Chocolate is oft equated with love -- those heart-shaped boxes for Valentine's Day. Or the scientific evidence that chocolate releases some endorphin-like chemical which makes you feel just like you're in love when you eat it. And I am in love. And, here's what I love with regard to that: Baskin Robbins chocolate chip ice cream; See's Candies dark chocolate bordeaux; Benes' Bakery brownies (cakelike, not fudgy); Girl Scout Thin Mints; Mallomars; Fun-sized Snickers bars, frozen; Fran's Gold Bites; Fluffernutter from Williams-Sonoma (alas, no longer available because of an absurd lawsuit), Nanaimo Bars, Boston Cream Pie. And that's the short list.
I also like chocolate pudding. And, I like chocolate cake. My mom used to make this cake when I was young. She could whip it up easily after dinner. I started making it when I was about eight. I've been making it for years, from a battered card which has the recipe written in my mom's handwriting. It's not rare. Occasionally I run across a recipe for it in food magazines, and most recently in the Los Angeles Times. But you needn't research it, as here is the recipe:
Crazy Chocolate Cake
1 1/2 cup flour
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup cold water
Sift flour, sugar, cocoa, soda and salt into ungreased 8-inch square pan. Make three depressions of graduating size in the combined dry ingredients. Into the largest, pour the oil; place vinegar in the second depression, and vanilla in the smallest. Pour water over all; mix by stirring with fork. Do not beat.
Bake for thirty minutes.
Serves nine, theoretically (cut into nine squares).
The interesting thing about this cake is that it is vegan. Now who knew we were that trendy? I think the recipe came about because it could be made with ingredients almost always on hand. Plus the no bowl thing made it attractive to busy moms who weren't really jonesing to dirty both bowl and pan. Theoretically you could eat the cake with the same fork with which you stir the ingredients together. A really good idea if you are going to eat the entire cake, in which case you won't even need a knife to cut it into squares. Seriously, you could be tempted to eat the whole thing. However, even when one needs to go to the mattresses, this could be . . . overkill.
What would Sandra do? Yes there is a Sandra & chocolate link as she makes a killer chocolate treat called Cook's Treats. Stay tuned, and thanks for reading my blog.
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About Me
- Bronte Healy
- California, United States
- Once, I came up with this brilliant idea (well, I thought so, anyway) that the key to happiness was to concentrate on three things -- to choose three interests, then focus and funnel your energy into that trio. I was an English major in college and have always written in some shape or form. So, my first choice was writing. I've always kept journals, and have also written plays, novels, poetry, and shopping lists. I do have a day job. It deals with numbers (assets and finances). Go figure. I went to college at a California University. I live in California, Los Angeles, but not downtown. No children, and sadly, between dogs at the moment (dog person, not a cat person). Enough info? I was going for just enough to not be a cypher, yet not enough to entice a stalker. And, I started my blog after being dragged, kicking and screaming, to do so. Blogs! Read about ME here, right? But I have been advised that this is a way to write regularly, and to put your writing OUT THERE. So, here goes. My name is Bronte Healy. Thanks for reading my blog.
1 comment:
My mother used to make this cake only it was named Magic Cake, and I think she mixed it in a bowl. But after it baked, she would put chocolate mints on the hot cake and after they melted she would smooth them over the top. Maybe that was the magic part? Anyway, I haven't had this in years, but will try to make it again. It sounds so easy. Thanks for providing it. I'd like to see more recipes, and maybe not have them buried at the bottom of your posts?
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